Traditional Pay Spreads Still Rule at Top Firms

Traditional pay spreads of 4-to-1, or even less, between the highest and lowest-paid partners are not unusual at many of the highest grossing law firms.

The pay system works at many of the top law firms, which rarely lose partners to competitors, according to the American Lawyer.

Still, some firms are changing, with pay spreads as high as 10-to-1.

One firm that is resisting that kind of change is Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. It has profits per partner of $3 million, and has never lost a partner to another firm. Even if one left, “We’d be disappointed, but we wouldn’t change our structure,” managing partner Philip “Pete” Ruegger III told the legal magazine.